Buggy-top raiser.



No. 655,770. Patented Aug. '14, I900.

J. 0. FORD.

BUGGY TOP BAISER.

(Application filed May 24, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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JOHN 0. FORD, OF MACON, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO \VILLIAM WINKLER,

' OF SAME PLACE.

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srnorrioa'rion forming part of Letters Patent No. 655,770, dated August 14, 1900.

Application filed May 24, 1900.

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Be it known that I, JOHN 0. FORD, a citien of the United States, and a resident of Macon, in the county of Macon and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buggy-Top Raisers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for facilitating the raising and lowering of vehicletops; and it consists of the parts and cornbination of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully set out.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a buggy body and top with my invention applied. Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the same, parts being broken away Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the operating-lever.

In the drawings, 1 is the body of the buggy; 2, the seat thereof; 3, the back; 4, the top, supported upon the usualbows 5, and 6 and 7 the hinged props usually found in modern buggies.

8 is the supporting member for the long joint '7, secured in the usual manner to the shifting rail at each end of the back 3.

9 is the usualgooseneck upon which the bows 5 are pivoted.

The support for the long joint is covered with rubber to act as a buffer or cushion, upon which one of the bows of the top rests, thereby preventing the bow from becoming disfigured through jolting of the vehicle over rough roads.

Suitable clips are secured to the shifting rail in line with the bow-support immediately below the cushion of the back 3, in which is journaled a shaft 10, said shaft extending from one side of the buggy to the other beyond the shifting rail.

11 is a lever having an enlarged end 12 bored out, in which one end of the shaft is adapted to be firmly secured and locked thereon, the lever 11 having a suitable handle 13. g

14 is a crank-arm rigidly secured to the lever 11, opposite the shaft 10, said arm being bent into substantially bow shape, as shown in Fig. 2, and bent upwardly until the upper end thereof is at right angles to the lever 11,

Serial No. 17,864. (No model.)

said upper end of the crank-arm 14 being provided with an elongated slot 15.

16 is a clip adapted to be secured by a clam ping-screw or other suitable means to the lower arm of the hinged prop 7. (See Figs. 1 and 2.)

17 is a stud or bearing projecting laterally from the clip 16, upon which is journaled an idle roller 18, said roller being adapted to enter the elongated slot of the crank-arm 14.

19 is a spring-snap secured by means of a screw 20 to the gooseneck 9, adapted to act as a lock to hold the lever 11 in its depressed position. (See Fig. 2.)

The parts being assembled as shown, the lever 11 is pulled upward at its outer end, thereby swinging the crank-arm 14, which travels upon the idle roller 18, thereby breaking the joint of the hinged prop 7 on each side of the buggy, whereupon the top 4 will fall backward. To elevate the top, the movement of the lever 11 is reversed.

Buggies as now constructed are all provided with what is known to the trade as the shifting rail, and to the shifting rail are secured the top, the long props, the backstays, and the curtains, and I have adapted my invention in order that it may also be secured to the shifting rail, thereby obviating all damage in attaching my invention to bug gies. The shaft 10 is entirely concealed by the cushion upon the back 3. From Fig. 2 it will be seen that I secure clips 16 and the crank-arms 14 on both sides of the buggy, thereby obviating all strain to the buggy-top.

'It has heretofore been found very inconvenient to enter and alight from top-buggies, inasmuch as the front bow extends to a point far in advance of the seat of the buggy. To overcome this, it has been the custom to break the joints in each of the long props 7with the hand; but this is very inconvenient, especially if one is standing upon the ground. These objections and difficulties come by my invention. N

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

In a buggy-top raiser the combination with are all overthe long hinged prop or joint, clips 16 secured an elongated slot 15 at the other end adapted around said props, a stud or bearing projectfor engagement with the antifriction-roller. ing therefrom and an antifriction-roller journaled thereon; a shaft 10 extending across 5 the buggy, the lever 11 rigidly keyed to said Witnesses:

shaft, the crank-arm 14 rigidly secured to R. M. LAWSON, said lever 11 at one end and provided with C. B. ROWE.

JOHN 0. FORD. 

